Half of children leave school without five good GCSEs

Almost half of pupils finished secondary school this summer without getting five good GCSEs in core subjects, Government statistics reveal.

More than 330,000 teenagers do not have a basic set of qualifications including English and maths.

That is despite going through 11 years of compulsory schooling, and the billions of pounds poured into schools by the previous Labour government.

Poor results: Over 330,000 teenagers do not have a basic set of qualifications including English and maths (posed by models)

Department for Education statistics show that only 53.1 per cent of
pupils this summer achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C
including English and maths – an increase of 3.3 percentage points on
2008/9.

However, only 48.9 per cent of boys reached this benchmark
compared to 57.5 per cent of girls, a gap of 8.6 percentage points. Last
year the gap stood at 8.4 per cent.

The figures will renew fears
about a growing gulf in achievement between boys and girls in secondary
schools.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said the 'historic and entrenched attainment gap' must be narrowed

Remarkably, state schools outperformed private schools
in the GCSE tables.

Some 54.8 per cent of state school pupils
achieved five A* to C grades including English and maths, compared to
just 47.2 per cent in private schools.

Only 40.7 per cent of
privately educated boys reached this benchmark compared to 50.9 per cent
of boys in comprehensives.

The gap is believed to be due to the
fact that many independent schools are either dropping many GCSEs or
allowing pupils to sit them early – to enable them to start AS-levels
and other courses quicker.

The Independent Schools Council said
the statistics did not account for some international GCSEs, taken by
many private schools, and that if they had, the figure for private
pupils would have been 93 per cent.

Across all schools, 74.8 per cent gained five or more GCSEs at grades
A* to C in any subject, an increase of 4.8 percentage points.

For the first time, international GCSEs (IGCSEs), which are favoured by private schools, have been included in the headline results.

If they are excluded, the figure achieving five or more good GCSEs without English and maths falls marginally to 74.7 per cent.

The Coalition claimed that the previous Government had failed to narrow the 'historic and entrenched' gap in standards between rich and poor areas.

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It was revealed that pupils in the best-performing local authority, Kensington and Chelsea, West London, were almost twice as likely to gain good grades as those in Knowsley, Merseyside.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: 'Our concern remains, however, that just under half are leaving compulsory education without a broad range of good GCSEs; over a quarter of a million young people.

'We need to narrow this historic and entrenched attainment gap, especially between those from the poorest and wealthiest backgrounds. It is a waste of talent that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are continuing to miss out on universities and jobs just because of the accidents of their birth.'

Meanwhile at A-level, privately educated pupils are three times more likely to get three or more A-levels graded at A* or A compared to those in the state sector, DfE figures show.

In total, nearly a third (31.4 per cent) of private school students achieved three or more A* or A grades compared with one in ten (10.6 per cent) in the state sector.

But the figures are similar when it comes to the numbers passing two or more A-levels, Some 97.4 per cent of private pupils achieved this, compared with 96.5 per cent of state pupils.

Overall, the proportion of teenagers scoring three or more A grades in their A-levels dropped slightly this year, while the numbers achieving at least two passes also fell.

One in eight (12.4 per cent) 16-18-year-olds was awarded at least three A* or A grades in this summer's exams, down marginally from 12.7 per cent last year.

In total, 93.6 per cent of candidates attained two or more A-level passes - this was down from 95.1 per cent, the year before.